After the interview ended, Luo Xin still had to prepare for today's second match—the main event of the day: RNG versus V5.
So she hurried off toward the backstage makeup room.
As for Lin Fan, he followed behind at a leisurely pace. After all, there was nothing else for him to do next. He could just head back to the lounge, return to base with the team, and begin his glorious routine of slacking off.
He was confident that after today's match, his standing within the team would rise quite a bit.
As soon as he returned to the lounge, he saw quite a few people standing at the entrance.
Looking more closely, it turned out that Rookie was about to go on stage for his match. He had come by to greet JackeyLove and congratulate him on securing his first league win.
"You should worry more about yourself. Xiaohu's in great form—don't get blown up in lane."
"You lost to them last week anyway. As your older brother, I'll help you get revenge. If you want to thank me, thanking me in the regular season isn't interesting—save it for playoffs."
"Then I'll definitely smash you in playoffs! And today's not even over yet—maybe I'll have to help you get revenge in playoffs instead."
TES currently sat at a 1–6 record, and the pressure to make playoffs was still huge. From this exchange, it was clear that JackeyLove's mindset was holding up pretty well. Rookie nodded.
"Alright then, it's settled. I'll wait for your big gift in playoffs."
"Go play your match already."
As former members of IG's legendary trio, even though they had gone their separate ways, their relationship remained close. They still played together and traveled together often in private.
"Fan-ge is back," JackeyLove greeted when he saw Lin Fan return.
Rookie turned his head and gave Lin Fan a careful look.
"You played really well just now. The pressure and tempo were completely maxed out."
"Luck, just luck," Lin Fan replied. Toward Rookie, he felt nothing but respect.
Setting aside Rookie being the first LPL champion, his professionalism and conduct were beyond reproach.
The players who came out of IG all seemed to have high emotional intelligence and strong principles. People might flame them for poor performance, but there were never any messy scandals—pure professional players through and through.
If all LPL players were like this, championships would probably come easily, instead of having everyone be soft everywhere except their mouths.
"Too modest," Rookie said.
V5's match was scheduled for 7 p.m., so they had arrived early at the venue.
During the waiting period, they naturally reviewed the TES versus TT match.
After watching, Rookie took it very seriously.
First was that Syndra pick. After heavy nerfs, she had long since lost her former glory.
Facing an energy-based champion like Zed tested experience and spell usage heavily.
Casting skills carelessly could easily lead to mana issues and getting suppressed instead.
If Zed were allowed to safely reach level six and build Hexdrinker, the lane would become completely unplayable.
But Lin Fan had completely grasped UCal's mindset during the laning phase. Then, by easing off pressure for two to three minutes, he lulled his opponent into complacency.
That sudden Flash afterward secured the kill and established a decisive advantage.
Those six-plus minutes were all preparation for that final move.
It was enough to prove how terrifying this player was.
Anyone who truly believed it was just luck was far too naïve.
"We'll still have matches later—there's a chance we'll face each other."
"Then don't pin me under my turret and kill me."
"That's something I should be saying to you," Rookie laughed, then waved and followed his teammates.
"V5 should be on a five-game win streak now, right?"
"Yeah, five straight wins. Never thought IG wouldn't renew Rookie's contract."
"So V5 got a massive bargain. The synergy this roster is showing is beyond expectations—it already feels like they're dominating the league.
IG's judgment really missed the mark. Rookie can still play…" Luo Sheng watched V5's departing figures, feeling a mix of envy and something close to jealousy.
"With this five-win momentum, RNG probably can't beat them."
At present, V5 sat first in the league, while TES was second from last.
"Let's head back. We're just getting started," Luo Sheng said, patting Lin Fan's shoulder.
"Yeah, we should hurry back. I've got a lot to do today—cities to capture in Rise of Kingdoms, and I still haven't finished my Honor of Kings duo missions."
Luo Sheng licked his dry lips, wanting to say something, but ultimately held it back.
…
Everyone packed up their equipment and belongings, left the official lounge, and boarded the bus back to base.
On the bus, Lin Fan couldn't wait to pull out his phone.
TIMI~
Instantly, all eyes on the bus turned toward him.
Lin Fan tapped Start Game.
Honor of Kings matchmaking was surprisingly fast. Even at King rank with twenty-three stars, it only took five or six seconds to find a match.
As soon as he matched, he entered the game and locked in Wu Zetian.
JackeyLove stared at Lin Fan playing, falling into deep thought.
Should I also play Honor of Kings?
Training League of Legends through Honor of Kings… is that actually reliable?
That Wu Zetian pick—thinking about it, her kit was kind of similar to Syndra's.
Could Fan-ge really be improving through Honor of Kings?
JackeyLove shook his head.
Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Playing Honor of Kings was still worse than just watching the next match.
Since he was idle anyway, he opened his phone, entered Douyu, and pulled up the live broadcast.
No surprise—it was today's marquee matchup. Viewership had already surpassed twenty million.
For a regular season match, that was extremely impressive.
Before long, JackeyLove was fully absorbed.
From initial tension to gradual relaxation.
"Yi Jin-ge is still insane!"
RNG had great tempo early, but Rookie's Orianna landed a perfect Shockwave in a team fight, turning everything around and smoothly securing game one.
By the time the first game ended, TES's bus had just arrived back at base.
Everyone ate a quick meal and headed straight to the training room.
Beating TT wasn't the end—it was the beginning.
And honestly, today's win hadn't been that smooth.
Everyone felt they could perform even better.
Especially Knight, who, after a quick bite, immediately queued up for ranked.
Seeing this, Luo Sheng felt genuinely relieved.
For players like him, pressure was exactly what was needed—only under pressure would he truly work hard.
The team was finally getting back on track, and the weight on his shoulders felt slightly lighter.
As for Lin Fan, he was the last to enter the training room.
While his teammates were training, he logged into Rise of Kingdoms.
And once again, his head started to hurt.
How exactly was he supposed to deal with this problem child?
Online—waiting. Urgently.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup